North Sand Creek - Center for Collaborative Conservation

North Sand Creek Restoration Partnership

The Setting

The North Sand Hills (NSH) is an active sand dune complex located in the northeast portion of North Park in Jackson County. NSH is one of only three dune complexes in Colorado. This unusual cold-climate dune systems supports rare plants and abundant wildlife, and it is a valuable recreation site, attracting about 21,000 visitors each year. It is the only dune complex in Colorado that allows off-highway vehicle (OHV) use. North Sand Creek (NSC) flows out of the high-elevation mixed-conifer forest to the east of the dunes, along the edge of the dunes, then through sagebrush steppe and irrigated pasture before into the Canadian River.

The Challenge

Against a backdrop of variable weather and runoff, increasing OHV use decreased plant cover, reduce large wood in the stream channel, and destabilized parts of the dune surface. Beginning around 2010, sediment loads in North Sand Creek rose dramatically. Now, the stream channel is highly unstable, and, in most years, sand buries an important agricultural water diversion on private land west of the dunes, making it very difficult to irrigate a 400+ acre pasture and putting this water right at risk.

A Path Forward

In 2020, the Center for Collaborative Conservation (CCC) at Colorado State University interviewed stakeholders to determine if a multi-stakeholder, cross-boundary approach could be used to address the issues facing North Sand Creek. They concluded that key stakeholders have good intentions and a willingness to collaborate on solutions. During the summer of 2022, the North Sand Creek Partnership emerged. This partnership builds on a history of collaboration in North Park, including in the North Sand Dunes landscape.

The goal of the North Sand Creek Partnership is to accelerate the recovery of North Sand Creek and reduce large sediment pulses that have impaired the use of downstream agricultural water rights while retaining recreational access to the dunes.

A wide range of stakeholders have been engaged in this partnership since 2021, including:

• Bureau of Land Management
• State Line Ranch (a private landowner
and water right owner)
• Ducks Unlimited
• Center for Collaborative Conservation
• Colorado Department of Public Health
and Environment
• US Environmental Protection Agency
• Colorado Water Conservation Board
• Colorado Watershed Assembly
• Private consultants
• The Environmental Representative to the
North Platte Basin Roundtable
• CSU Extension

Project components include:

1. Augmenting vegetation recovery on steep dune slopes that were determined to be the primary source of excessive stream sediment,

2. Installing low-tech in-channel features (e.g., large wood accumulations) that enhance sediment storage without storing water, and

3. Working with the public and OHV user groups to design and conduct education and outreach activities that will support the dune and stream restoration work.

We will also monitor the performance and effectiveness of all project activities and the return of natural stream function. Throughout this project, we will continue to expand the inclusion of stakeholders. Due to the mixed-use present along our corridor of interest, effective engagement, education, and outreach are essential to the long-term success of this project.

Resources

Substantial partner contributions to date from BLM, State Line Ranch, the Center for Collaborative Conservation, Ducks Unlimited, and all the partners listed above.
We have also raised approximately $300,000 to date for research, planning, monitoring and evaluation, coordination/facilitation, and project management.
We estimate our future need for funding ~$700,000 for implementation, monitoring, evaluation, and project management.